Peter Goldwasser, Esq., is the executive director at Together for Safer Roads. Goldwasser has two decades of experience working across the public and private sectors, advising companies, non-profits, and individuals on how to make a positive impact on the toughest issues. He is known for a leadership style that clients and colleagues characterize as authentic, creative, and empowering.
MWS: CAN YOU GIVE OUR READERS A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TOGETHER FOR SAFER ROADS AND THE WORK YOU DO?
Goldwasser: Fatalities and serious injuries from road collisions are one of the most pressing global health and development crises, with pedestrians, children, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users at risk. Together for Safer Roads addresses this problem through innovative programs grounded in industry expertise. By sharing the knowledge, data, technology, and global networks of our members, we help to prevent traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities. This investment in cross-sector collaboration is notably improving road safety outcomes and saving lives.
Working with the public sector, we provide insights on how to make fleets safer for operators and vulnerable road users, and guidance on testing safety solutions at scale. On the private sector side, we collaborate with leading companies around best practices for fleet safety, offering speed of innovation and the ability to bring new ideas to the table. For community-based organizations (CBOs), TSR provides a forum to connect with private sector resources, expertise, and support along with insights from road users and communities that shape solutions.
Our members include some of the world’s largest fleets, encompassing 286,318 professional drivers and 606,202 company vehicles globally. TSR is a global organization, with members operating in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, Germany, Italy, France, and other countries.
MWS: TODAY’S WORK TRUCKS ARE IMPLEMENTING VARIOUS DESIGNS AND TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE SAFETY. WHAT ARE SOME ISSUES THAT STILL NEED TO BE ADDRESSED?
Goldwasser: The following are three core issues that we are currently working to address with our partners and members at TSR:
- It is common knowledge that drivers who have greater visibility in their cabs are less likely to injure or kill pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. However, while tools and designs are available, most trucks in the U.S. still have large and dangerous blind zones, making it difficult to easily and quickly see road users outside the vehicles.
- Fleet safety experts report that despite the ubiquity of certain safety instruments and technologies, fleet operators lack a unifying standard to inform the purchase of the “right” vehicle safety instrument for new vehicles and the retrofitting of existing ones. Those standards that do exist are either often inaccessible, or not useful to guide purchasing and operations decisions.
- Small to mid-size fleets account for about 88 percent of all commercial fleets on the road, yet these operators often lack the time, technical expertise, and financial resources to create systems and cultures of safety.
MWS: WHAT SOLUTIONS COULD FLEET OWNERS/MANAGERS CONSIDER TO REMEDY THOSE ISSUES?
Goldwasser: We are addressing these issues through TSR’s Safer Roads Studio, which serves as the hub for our work with forward-thinking corporations, startups, municipalities, and other road safety entrepreneurs. The studio leverages a combination of people-first design thinking and accelerator methodology to define, test and produce packaged solutions to the industry’s challenges.
Direct Vision: We are deeply invested in mobilizing our members and partners across the public and private sectors to lay the groundwork for a future where Direct Vision cabs are the universal standard for trucks worldwide. To further that goal, we have launched two key initiatives:
- Our Truck of the Future program works with cities and companies to equip their fleets with 360-degree video and audio technology that increases driver vision.
- TSR’s Direct Vision Star Rating System provides policymakers and fleet operators with a tool to assess the blind zones of their current fleet vehicles and make better informed purchases when procuring new trucks. We believe it will also encourage fleet owners to retrofit poorly rated vehicles to improve visibility and reduce the size of their blind zones.
Safety Industry Standards: Utilizing its Safer Roads Studio, TSR’s Global Fleet Safety Instruments Standardization is establishing a comprehensive suite of recommended industry standards for a broad cross-section of critical safety instruments. This work will also support a more equitable deployment of safer trucks in the secondary, resale markets, with a particularly positive impact for smaller business owners with less resources.
Safety support for smaller fleets: FOCUS on Fleet Safety is TSR’s signature workforce development program specifically created for small to mid-sized fleets based on industry best practices and peer mentorship. Through the FOCUS program, we help companies achieve safer and more efficient operations by utilizing a combination of safety training, leadership development, and technology.
MWS: CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE CONCERN OF FINDING BALANCE BETWEEN PUBLIC SAFETY AND PRIVACY CONCERNS WHEN IT COMES TO IN-CAB CAMERAS?
Goldwasser: In-cab cameras are equipped to capture pivotal moments to help us better understand why crashes and/or near misses happen. By capturing and analyzing driver behavior and external factors, these cameras provide fleet managers with a wealth of critical data points. This information can then be used to create more effective, personalized coaching strategies, which result in a ripple effect on the safe road ecosystem. The result can be enhanced driver performance and fewer crashes, injuries, and fatalities, and potential reductions in insurance costs.
Yet, despite the obvious advantages, fleet managers who want to introduce in-cab cameras are confronted with a variety of obstacles, often exacerbated by the implications of certain privacy laws. We strongly maintain; however, that road safety and privacy should not be adversarial, they can coexist through technology and nuanced legislation. Working with fleet managers and drivers about the advantages of in-cab cameras is essential, coupled with ensuring that privacy legislation is carefully worded to allow for adoption of this life-saving technology.
MWS: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE POSSIBILITY OF THE INCLUSION OF AUTONOMOUS WORK TRUCKS AND VEHICLES IN FLEETS?
Goldwasser: Autonomous vehicles are not necessarily front and center in our work right now. We can envision a future where large-scale deployment of autonomous trucks in the context of long-haul trucking will have potentially significant implications on the industry and for road safety. TSR will continue to work with our members and partners to stay abreast of changes and see where and how we can contribute to the issue. The goal is that higher stages of autonomy are consistently linked to safer vehicles and conditions for all road users.
MWS: ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Goldwasser: Improving fleet safety is of the utmost importance and it is a privilege for TSR to be able to work with our various member companies and city partners to drive real and sustaining change. It can be a complicated issue, but one that is absolutely made better via public-private partnerships, innovative pilots, and, the sharing and strengthening of networks of like-minded actors – all work that TSR is uniquely positioned to do.
We look forward to the year ahead and continuing to support road and fleet safety initiatives in 2024.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Together for Safer Roads is a global NGO, leveraging private-sector technology, data, and expertise to prevent traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities around the world. Their purpose-driven members are active participants in TSR and Vision Zero programs. To learn more, visit www.togetherforsaferroads.org.
